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  1. Hello,
    I just authored a DVD using DVDStyler. The aspect ratio of the video is the standard widescreen format of 16:9. It displays perfectly fine on any computer. However, when I display it on my widescreen 32" Vizio TV, the sides are truncated. The TV has the following modes:

    - Wides (I assume this is 16:9 but it's clipping the sides of my 16:9 video - no black vertical bars at the side, just clipping)
    - Panoramic (no help)
    - Normal (this is 4:3)
    - Zoom (no help)

    Any ideas as to what is going on? Is it something I'm doing or is it likely to be something with my DVD/TV playback? (I haven't yet been able to try it on another TV setup).

    Any ideas appreciated. Thanks.
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  2. Originally Posted by gschmidt View Post
    Any ideas as to what is going on?
    Overscan?

    https://www.videohelp.com/glossary?O#Overscan
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  3. Member edDV's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by gschmidt View Post
    Hello,
    I just authored a DVD using DVDStyler. The aspect ratio of the video is the standard widescreen format of 16:9. It displays perfectly fine on any computer. However, when I display it on my widescreen 32" Vizio TV, the sides are truncated. The TV has the following modes:

    - Wides (I assume this is 16:9 but it's clipping the sides of my 16:9 video - no black vertical bars at the side, just clipping)
    - Panoramic (no help)
    - Normal (this is 4:3)
    - Zoom (no help)

    Any ideas as to what is going on? Is it something I'm doing or is it likely to be something with my DVD/TV playback? (I haven't yet been able to try it on another TV setup).

    Any ideas appreciated. Thanks.
    If not normal overscan it can be

    1. Incorrectly authored DVD. Does a store bought DVD play correctly?

    2. DVD player settings.

    3 TV settings.

    I've got two small Vizio HDTV sets.

    - Normal ...This should show 16:9 as normal overscan and 4:3 with black side pillars.
    - Wide ... This will linearly stretch 4:3 horizontally to the sides.
    - Panoramic ... This will non-linearly stretch 4:3 horizontally to the sides.
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  4. Everything you watch on the Vizio (and probably every other TV you've ever had) has the edges cropped. You just never noticed before because you didn't have an external reference to compare to. Let me guess -- you can't see the subtitles at the bottom of the frame? You need a TV with a non-overscan option to see the whole picture.
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  5. So if I can't author my DVD in 16:9 (widescreen) and have it display correctly on a widescreen TV set, what is the alternative?
    Thanks.
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  6. Get a TV with a non-overscan mode. Or add black borders to the video so that the black borders are hidden by the overscan. Beware, the amount of overscan varies from TV to TV. Anywhere from 1 to 10 percent on each side. Most LCD and plasma displays overscan by 2 or 3 percent.
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  7. The DVD I am making will be distributed to many people since it is for a class reunion so I would like to solve the problem by adding black borders. Are you aware of any software that will take an mpg or AVI and add the black borders? So far, I have not found an easy way to do that. Thanks.
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  8. Nobody will notice the edges of the frame are missing, just as you never noticed before. Just don't put titles near the edges of the frame.
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  9. Right, that's one way to deal with it, but it also looks like I included some content that's too close to the edges so I have some work to do. I did learn that "DVD Flick" (sourceforge) will add bars to compensate for overscan so I might use that approach. Thanks again.
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  10. Just about every editor has the ability to shrink the frame and add borders.
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  11. Do you happen to know if DVD Styler offers that option (I didn't see it, although maybe a custom frame size is the way to do it)? At the moment I prefer DVD Styler to DVD Flick. Thanks.
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  12. I don't use DVD Styler but look for resizing functions.
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  13. Member edDV's Avatar
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    All editors and live TV directors are taught to honor title/action safe guidelines. A key issue is centering titles in 16:9 material so that they will show on 4:3 TV sets when broadcast center cropped.

    Click image for larger version

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    Most editing software will overlay action/tile safe grids as guides for creating titles or adding graphics.

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    Typical broadcast TV use of title safe for mixed 16:9 / 4:3 feeds.

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    http://info.videodesignsoftware.com/automating-social-media/bid/37471/How-to-Design-Br...nversion-to-SD
    Last edited by edDV; 29th Oct 2011 at 13:46.
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  14. Wow, thanks for all the great info guys. Up until now, I had assumed that computer monitors and digital TV's were more or less equivalent, but for the most part when it comes to displayable area, they're obviously not.
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  15. Originally, CRT TVs couldn't keep the picture the same size or perfectly centered as the temperature changed, as they aged, even as the picture content changed. To keep people from complaining about the picture being off center the picture was overscanned so no borders would ever be visible. Broadasters knew you couldn't see all the way to the edges of the frame so they kept important information away from the edges. They also didn't worry about having junk near the edges (for example, the closed caption signal was carried at the top, VHS head switching noise can be seen at the bottom).

    Picture control problems like those aren't an issue with fixed pixels displays like LCD and plasma. But TV manufacturers know that there's often junk at the edges of the frame so they continue to "overscan" to keep customers from seeing the junk and complaining.

    Many newer HDTVs (especially 1080p displays) have a non-overscan mode which will allow you to see the entire picture. You'll sometimes see junk around the edges. Broadcasters are slowly getting better about keeping the edges clean.
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